1. Field of the Invention
The present invention generally relates to tracing counterfeit money and, more particularly, to tracing counterfeit money by way of advanced recognition devices.
2. Discussion of Background
Law enforcement agencies often require banks to report a transaction log of a counterfeit bank note that is deposited into an automatic teller machine (ATM) of the bank. A bank note is any form of currency recognized by banks. To comport with law enforcement requirements, banks typically have procedures for tracing bank notes deposited into their ATM machines.
FIG. 1 is a block diagram of a conventional tracing system 100 for informing law enforcement agencies of counterfeit bank notes. An initial bank note 104 is deposited into an ATM 102 of a bank branch office 103. At that point in time, the bank does not know if the initial bank note 104 is counterfeit or not.
The ATM 102 includes a device for recording a transaction log of all deposited bank notes, including the initial bank note 104 of this example. An initial bank note 104 is guided to a bill discrimination unit in the ATM 102 to discriminate the bills denomination. The initial bank note 104 is then led to a written number read unit to read the serial number of the initial bank note 104. The initial bank note 104 is stored in a cartridge of the ATM 102 with other deposited bank notes. The serial number of the initial bank note 104 is stored in a cartridge memory of the ATM 102.
The cartridge is taken out of the ATM 102 and transferred to the bank central office 107. At the bank central office 107, high-level validation 105 is performed on the initial bank note 104. If the initial bank note 104 is found to be a counterfeit bill, the initial bank note undergoes subsequent procedures as a subsequent bank note 118. Note that the subsequent bank note 118 is physically the same bank note as the initial bank note 104, but is referred to here as the subsequent bank note 118 to indicate subsequent procedures are performed.
The subsequent bank note 118 is taken back to the bank branch office 103. The serial number of the subsequent bank note 103 is read out of the cartridge memory to trace the past passing route of the bank note. A transaction log 114 is obtained from the bank branch office 103. A typical transaction log 114 includes the date the bank note was initially deposited, a customer identification, and the total amount of the deposit. The transaction log 114 is then reported to the police 110 and the bank central office 107.
Unfortunately, conventional tracing systems 100 lack comprehensive, fail-safe procedures for identifying and tracing counterfeit bank notes. For example, one recording device in a conventional tracing system 100 uses merely the serial number of the bank note to keep track of the bank note deposited into the ATM 102. See, for example, Jap. Pat. publication No. 11-328493, “Device And System For Paper Sheet Data Management.” Another recording device uses the serial number in combination with the customer fingerprint image to keep track of the bank note and the corresponding customer. See, for example, Jap. Pat. publication No. 2000-322632, “Handling Device For Coins Or The Like.”
Problems are associated with using merely the serial number to identify a bank note. One problem with using the serial number is that a counterfeit note will oftentimes have the same serial number as a genuine bank note. Consequently, the conventional tracing system 100 cannot distinguish between a genuine bank note and a counterfeit bank note having the same serial number. Another problem with using the serial number to identify a bank note is that a counterfeit note may have the same serial number as another counterfeit bank note. Consequently, the conventional tracing system 100 cannot distinguish between multiple counterfeit bank notes having the same serial number. Thus, conventional tracing systems 100 lack the minimal precision that is required to accurately trace counterfeit bank notes and to catch savvy criminals.
Other problems are associated with the device that captures an image of the serial number. Conventional imaging devices are not sufficiently accurate to capture reliably an image of a bank note's serial number. Further, conventional imaging devices are not sufficiently accurate to capture reliably an image of a bank note's other parts as well.